Free Darkmoon (#5) (The Cain Chronicles) by SM Reine

“hardcore.” Abel couldn’t help but smirk.
    “I think you’ve had too much to drink, my brothers,” Abel said. Despite the smile, his voice was hard, and his blood started to flow hot. “You’re not thinking right. If we were werewolves, would that mean we’re the kind of men you want to make trouble with?”
    “Abel,” Seth said warningly.
    “We don’t want werewolves in our town,” the first one said, blasting the smell of beer in Abel’s face with a breath. “So are you a werewolf?”
    Seth spoke again. “ Abel… ”
    But Abel only grinned
    “Maybe I am,” he said, shoving his face close to the man with the knuckle tattoos. “What are you boys gonna do about it?”
    He didn’t even see the swinging fist coming.
    Knuckles connected with the side of his head, sending him spilling over the nearest table. Glass showered on the floor. The women who were sitting at it leaped away with shouts.
    Abel was back on his feet in time to see Seth catch another punch thrown by the first speaker. Brawls were Seth’s specialty; he grabbed the fist, twisted the attacker’s arm behind his back, and jerked the wrist up between the shoulder blades. The man cried out.
    Seth was distracted, and didn’t see that Hardcore was drawing back for a kidney punch.
    Abel launched at him, grabbing his shirt and carrying both of them into the jukebox hard enough to make it bounce against the wall. The Led Zeppelin song that had been playing cut off.
    Someone jumped onto Abel’s back, trying to pry him off Hardcore. Abel threw himself onto the ground, body-slamming his assailant into the floor boards, and the shout in his ear was so damn satisfying.
    Abel kicked free of his grip and ducked under another swing by Hardcore, then delivered a swift right hook into his jaw.
    “We’ve got to get out of here,” Seth yelled, throwing the first guy over the bar.
    It was only then that Abel heard the sirens underneath the waitress’s screaming. Someone had called the cops.
    Abel laughed as he grabbed Seth’s arm and dragged him out the front door.
    All in all, it turned out to be a pretty good day.

E IGHT
    An Unearthly Visitor
    Abel was relieved to see that Crystal had gotten the Chevelle safely back to the ranch. He didn’t usually let women drive it—not even Rylie—but it had been the fastest way to get rid of her, so he had made an exception. But it seemed she was pretty offended at having him get rid of her at all. That, or the alcohol hit her harder than it hit him: she had dumped his car by the mailbox and left his engine running. Last time he ever let a woman drive his baby.
    He jumped out of the truck and slipped into the Chevelle. “You okay, darling?” he cooed, running his hands over the dashboard.
    “Abel,” Seth said from the driver’s seat of the truck.
    “Bug off, I’m checking my girl,” Abel yelled back.
    “Check it later. We have visitors.”
    That got his attention. He followed Seth’s gaze to the top of the hill, where he saw a group of people standing together. Even at that distance, he could recognize Gwyn, but there were two people he didn’t know—people that didn’t smell like pack. The odor on the wind was like herbs, blood, and something unfamiliar that made the hair on the back of Abel’s neck stand.
    Seth drove on while Abel pulled the Chevelle off the path. By the time Abel reached the top of the hill, Seth had gone inside, leaving Gwyn alone with the visitors. In the winter sunlight, Abel could see that her lips had lost all color and her eyes were fading to gray. She still passed for living, though. She didn’t have any holes yet, like Eleanor had.
    “So you’re a witch,” Gwyneth said, pushing her hat back with a knuckle to get a better look at the man. Abel could understand why she looked so dubious about him: the only way to describe the visitor was “strange.”
    At first glance, Abel thought that he had to be pretty old. His hair was thick, but white, like a man in his